Smart Pension has acquired Evolve Pensions, owner of the £750m Cystal Master Trust, for an undisclosed amount, bringing Smart Pension's total assets under management to £4bn.

The acquisition was highlighted as further acceleration of Smart Pension’s consolidation strategy, following on from the group’s acquisition of Ensign Master Trust, the Welplan Master Trust, the Corpad Master Trust and Corporate Pensions Trust.

The deal aims to provide efficiencies for Crystal Trust’s employers and members via Smart’s platform, Keystone, which the group argued is "ideally suited" to consolidation, as it delivers the scale and efficiencies needed, as well as bringing a “much-needed leap forward” in technology.

Smart UK CEO, Jamie Fiveash, stated: “It is clear that 'winning' in this market means delivering better value for savers. Size and efficiency are important for that, but also great technology.

"Synergies and economies of scale allow value to be passed back both to employers and to members. Smart’s Keystone platform delivers all of this.

“Our joint focus will be working towards merging the Crystal Trust into the Smart Pension Master Trust within the next 12 months, ensuring that members can benefit from the efficiencies and proposition improvements that scale and technology can bring.

"The team will also help us with our ambitious growth plans which will see further acquisitions, partnerships and new product developments over the coming months.

"We have been impressed with the quality of the management team and pensions expertise that has been assembled under the leadership of CEO Paul Bannister and director of strategy Jessica Rigby. We look forward to welcoming them into the Smart Pension team.”

Adding to this, Evolve Pensions CEO, Paul Bannister, said: “At Evolve we have always put people at the centre of everything we do. Having seen Smart Pension’s rapid rise to provide best-in-class pension technology and member experience to more than 1.1 million savers in the UK, we realised our strategies are aligned and our commitment to our employees is key.

“We can bring exceptional value to pension savers across the UK through our heritage in the industry, and Smart Pension’s globally recognised technology, and proven membership experience capabilities.

"Smart Pension has become recognised as the ‘consolidator of choice’ in the UK workplace pension market for good reason: They create true value for employers and members. We’re very proud to be able to further enhance the outcomes for those we work with through this meeting of minds.”

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